The Things I Want Most: The Extraordinary Story of a Boy's Journey to a Family of His Own - Softcover

Miniter, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553379763 ISBN 13: 9780553379761

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2000

Synopsis

The remarkable story of a couple who risked everything to open their home--and their hearts--to answer an abandoned child's wish.

It was a small note buried in the file of a deeply troubled eleven-year-old boy--a plea for a normal life Rich and Sue Miniter couldn't ignore:

The Things I Want MOST:
A family
A fishing pole
A familyThe Miniters heard in that simple note the voice of a frightened child who wanted what all children want and need: someone to love who would love them in return.

So they brought Mike home to the cozy country inn they'd restored and managed in rural upstate New York. There, over the next year, they would try to make Mike's dream come true. But first they would have to work through the fear, anger, and distrust that accompanied this boy who had lived his whole life with the label "severely emotionally disturbed." For the biggest obstacle to Mike's happiness was Mike himself, who gave the Miniters every reason to give up but one--the power of love.

When Richard and Sue Miniter decided to open their home--and their hearts--to a foster child, they couldn't imagine the frustrations and joys, the breakthroughs and setbacks, not to mention the emotional toll, that awaited them. Here is the remarkable true story of how their lives changed forever with their decision to answer an abandoned child's wish for THE THINGS I WANT MOST.

About this title

Review:

"Beautifully written and urgently important, this book is a must read for parents everywhere."
--Dave Pelzer

"An amazing book, warm and inspiring. You finish it not warned off by the Miniters' experience, but wanting to emulate it."
--The Washington Post

"Candid and remarkably hopeful."
--Kirkus Reviews

"A primer for anyone who might want to be a foster parent, especially for a special-needs kid. It does not pull any punches but does pull on your heartstrings."
--Albuquerque Journal

"If just one family reads this book and decides they would be willing to try with a child like Mike, it could literally save a child's life. This is an incredible story of amazing people."
--Marian Wright Edelman, President, The Children's Defense Fund

"Here is an unpretentious and unsentimental, wonderfully engaging account of American idealism as it was lived out, day by day, in a particular family--a story of what is possible when an aroused parental loving-kindness takes on a child's legacy of disorder and early sorrow."
--Dr. Robert Coles, Harvard Health Services, author of The Spiritual Life of Children

"An amazing book, warm and inspiring. You finish it not warned off by the Miniters' experience, but want-ing to emulate it."--The Washington Post

From the Back Cover:

THE REMARKABLE STORY OF A COUPLE WHO RISKED EVERYTHING TO OPEN THEIR HOME -- AND THEIR HEARTS -- TO ANSWER AN ABANDONED CHILD'S WISH

The Things I Want Most

It was a small note buried in the file of a deeply troubled eleven-year-old boy -- a plea for a normal life Rich and Sue Miniter couldn't ignore:

The Miniters heard in that simple note the voice of a frightened child who wanted what all children want and need: someone to love who would love them in return. So they brought Mike home to the cozy country inn they'd restored and managed in rural upstate New York. There, over the next year, they would try to make Mike's dream come true. But first they would have to work through the fear, anger, and distrust that accompanied this boy who had lived his whole life with the label "severely emotionally disturbed". For the biggest obstacle to Mike's happiness was Mike himself, who gave the Miniters every reason to give up but one -- the power of love.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0553379763
• ISBN 13: 9780553379761
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288